Once again the gods of war have united our
Congress like nothing else. Unable to agree on the minimal spending
necessary to save our economy, schools, medical system or
infrastructure, the cowards who mislead us have retreated to the
irrationalities of what George Washington in his farewell address
condemned as “pretended patriotism.”

The defense authorization bill that
Congress passed and President Obama had threatened to veto will soon
become law, a fact that should be met with public outrage. Human Rights
Watch Executive Director Kenneth Roth, responding to Obama’s craven
collapse on the bill’s most controversial provision, said, “By signing
this defense spending bill, President Obama will go down in history as
the president who enshrined indefinite detention without trial in U.S.
law.” On Wednesday, White House press secretary Jay Carney claimed “the
most recent changes give the president additional discretion in
determining how the law will be implemented, consistent with our values
and the rule of law, which are at the heart of our country’s strength.”